Woody formed article and method for producing the same

ABSTRACT

A woody formed article, characterized as being produced by admixing a woody material W and, as a binding agent, a fibrous and/or ribbon shaped thermoplastic resin R which is easy to be intertwined with the woody material W, and molding the resultant mixture. The thermoplastic resin R is preferably admixed in a state of being heated and melted. A method for producing a woody formed material, characterized in that it comprises providing a mat M of a raw material mixture Mx of a woody material W and a fibrous and/or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin R and subjecting the mat M to heat pressing, or comprises, in admixing the woody material W with the above fibrous thermoplastic resin R, stretching and thinning the resin R by means of a hot wind and/or a cold wind pressure, and admixing homogeneously it with the woody material W by utilizing a negative pressure zone due to the hot wind and/or the cold wind, to prepare a mat M of a raw material mixture Mx, and then subjecting the mat M to pressing.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a woody formed article andmethod for producing the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Up to now, to produce a woody formed article in which woodymaterial such as wood powder and the like and thermoplastic resin aremixed, a method consisting of melting said thermoplastic resin byemploying such as an extruder, heating and melting type kneader, and thelike, adding woody material such as wood powder to said meltedthermoplastic resin to mix, and forming the resulting mixture into aformed article by extrusion molding or a method consisting ofhot-pressing a mixture of said woody material and chip or pellet of saidthermoplastic resin has been provided. As said woody material, finewoody material such as crushed waste paper have been used besides saidwood powder. The resulting woody formed article is useful as buildingboards and material for furniture.

[0003] In a case where said woody material is added to said meltedthermoplastic resin at a high temperature and pressure as describedabove, many kinds of sugar, lignin and the like originally contained insaid woody material come out in said melted thermoplastic resin andfurther said components coming out from said woody material aredispersed wholly in said melted thermoplastic resin by kneading actionof the screw of an extruder and the like under a high pressure. As aresult, a problem that said thermoplastic resin is degraded by saidcomponents has arisen, and in the case where said thermoplastic resin isdegraded, desirable hardness and strength of the resulting formedarticle can not be ensured, and the resulting formed article has poortoughness to be brittle and further has poor weather resistance, causingchalking by being exposed to ultraviolet rays outdoors.

[0004] Further in a case where said thermoplastic resin chip or pelletis mixed in said woody material, it is difficult to mix uniformly saidwoody material and said thermoplastic resin under room temperature andin a case where crushed waste paper is used as a woody material, a lightwoody formed article which can be used in place of plywood, OSB, and thelike which use thermosetting resin and have excellent strength isdifficult to obtain since said crushed waste paper has a big specificsurface area so that a big amount of thermoplastic resin as a binder isnecessary and as a result the density of the resulting formed articlebecomes high.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0005] To solve said problems of said conventional arts, the presentinvention provides a woody formed article produced by forming a mixtureMx of woody material W and fibrous and/or ribbon-shaped thermoplasticresin R.

[0006] It is desirable that said fibrous and/or ribbon-shapedthermoplastic resin R is heated to melt and then mixed with said woodymaterial in a melted state. Further, said fibrous and/or ribbon-shapedthermoplastic resin R produced by using scrapped resin articles can beused in the present invention. Furthermore, said woody material isdesirably wood flakes.

[0007] To produce said woody formed article, a raw material mixture Mxin which said woody material W and said fibrous and/or ribbon-shapedthermoplastic resin R are contained is press-molded. To put itconcretely, said raw material mixture containing said woody material andfibrous and/or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin is strewed on aconveyer moving to a designated direction directly or on mold panels puton said conveyer to form mats and said mats are formed. Uneven patternsmay be formed on one or both side(s) of said mats by embossing. Further,said raw material mixture is desirably prepared by mixing fibrous and/orribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin being heated and melted in said woodymaterial by extruding said thermoplastic resin in fibrous shape from anorifice of an extruder's die. Said woody material is desirably suppliedcontinuously from one side or both sides to said melted, extrudedthermoplastic resin to mix. Still further, said melted thermoplasticresin extruded from said orifice of said extruders' die in fibrous shapemay be stretched and thinned by hot wind pressure and/or cold windpressure and said stretched and thinned fibrous thermoplastic resin maybe mixed in said woody material in a melted state. Said die of saidextruder has desirably a plural number of orifices arranged in one or aplural number of row(s) and a plural number of dies may be equipped insaid extruder. Generally the caliber of said orifice of said die is inthe range of between 0.2 and 2.0 mm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0008] FIGS. 1 to 28 relate EMBODIMENT of the present invention.

[0009]FIG. 1 is a figure to illustrate a mixing process of fibrousthermoplastic resin and woody material.

[0010]FIG. 2 is a figure to illustrate a mixing process of fibrousthermoplastic resin and woody material in another embodiment.

[0011]FIG. 3 is an illustrating side view of a former.

[0012]FIG. 4 is an illustrating side view of a former in anotherembodiment.

[0013]FIG. 5 is an illustrating side view of a former in still anotherembodiment.

[0014]FIG. 6 is a figure showing a state in which melted fibrousthermoplastic resin is intertwined with and adheres to woody material.

[0015]FIG. 7 is a illustrating side view of still another former.

[0016]FIG. 8 is a figure to illustrate a producing process of a woodyformed article in which mold panel, hot roll press, and cold roll pressare used.

[0017]FIG. 9 is a figure to illustrate a producing process of a woodyformed article in which hot roll press and cold roll press are used.

[0018]FIG. 10 is a front view illustrating a state before pressing.

[0019]FIG. 11 is a side view illustrating a pressing state.

[0020]FIG. 12 is a figure to illustrate the structure of a formed matafter hot-pressing.

[0021]FIG. 13 is a figure to illustrate a hot press machine.

[0022]FIG. 14 is a figure to illustrate a cold press machine.

[0023]FIG. 15 is a figure to illustrate extruding and dischargingprocess of thermoplastic resin.

[0024]FIG. 16 is an illustrating cross-sectional view of an orifice ofan die.

[0025]FIG. 17 is an illustrating figure showing arrangement of orificesof a die.

[0026]FIG. 18 is an illustrating figure showing the state in whichmelted thermoplastic resin is intertwined with and adheres to woodymaterial.

[0027]FIG. 19 is a figure to illustrate the intertwining state of rawmaterials using a die having a plural number of orifices arranged in aplural number of rows.

[0028]FIG. 20 is a figure to illustrate the intertwining state of rawmaterials using a die having a plural number of orifices arranged inthree rows.

[0029]FIG. 21 is a figure to illustrate stretching and thinning processof extruded, melted thermoplastic resin by blowing hot wind and coldwind.

[0030]FIG. 22 is a figure to illustrate stretching and thinning processby blowing hot wind and cold wind in another embodiment.

[0031]FIG. 23 is a figure to illustrate stretching and thinning processby blowing hot wind and cold wind in a case where a plural number ofdies are arranged in a plural number of steps.

[0032]FIG. 24 is an illustrating figure of heating process of woodymaterial.

[0033]FIG. 25 is an illustrating figure of mixing process of rawmaterials in a case where woody material supplying conveyers and diesare arranged in a plural number of steps.

[0034]FIG. 26 is an illustrating figure of another embodiment of woodymaterial supplying conveyers.

[0035]FIG. 27 is an illustrating figure of woody material supplyingconveyer in still another embodiment,

[0036]FIG. 28 is an illustrating figure of woody material supplyingconveyer in yet another embodiment. [AN EXPLANATION OF CODES]  7 aconveyor 10 a mold panel 13A, 14A a compression roll press 13B, 14B ahot roll press 13C, 14C a cold roll press 16A, 16B an embossing roll 42,52, 62 dies 43 an orifice R thermoplastic resin W a woody material (woodflakes) Mx a raw material mixture M a mat M′ a formed mat φ₁ anorifice's caliber φ₂ a diameter of extruded thermoplastic resin afterbeing stretched and thinned

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0037] [Woody Materials]

[0038] Woody materials W used in the present invention include such aswood flakes, strands, wood powder, sawdust, wood fiber bundles, woodpulp, and the like. Woody materials W made from waste pieces fromcutting process or waste wood material produced when a wooden buildingis built or rebuilt or taken down can be used in the present invention.Up to now, said waste pieces and waste wood material have beenincinerated but said incinerating treatment generates CO₂ gas causingtemperature rise on the earth. Nevertheless, in the case where saidwaste pieces and waste wood material W are reused as woody material ofthe present invention, said environmental load can be reduced.

[0039] Wood flakes are especially preferable woody material of thepresent invention. Said wood flakes are prepared by using the RingFlaker (Pallmann Co.) in thin leaf shape of preferably the width from0.5 to 20 mm, the length from 1 to 50 mm, and thickness from 0.1 to 5mm; more preferably the width from 0.5 to 10 mm, length from 4 to 35 mm,and thickness from 0.1 to 2.5 mm; ideally the width from 4 to 8 mm,length 20 to 25 mm, and thickness from 0.5 to 1 mm.

[0040] As described above, said woody material W can be made from wastewood material, and said waste wood materials produced in rebuilding andtaking down are easily shaved into flake shape by the flaker. When saidwood flake contains water, vapor is generated from said wood flake inthe case of molding by heating and adhesion between said wood flake andsaid thermoplastic resin is obstructed by said vapor since vapor film isformed between said wood flake and said thermoplastic resin to obstructsaid, so that said wood flake is dried with a dryer to reduce its watercontent to less than 5% after said wood flake is made from the woodmaterial.

[0041] [Thermoplastic Resin]

[0042] Thermoplastic resin R for use in this invention includespolyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene/propylene copolymer,ethylene/propylene terpolymer, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl chloride, poly vinylidene chloride, polystyrene, polyvinylacetate, fluororesin, thermoplastic acrylic resin, thermoplasticpolyester, thermoplastic polyamide, acrylonitrile/butadiene copolymer,styrene/butadiene copolymer, acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene copolymerand the like, and waste articles made of said thermoplastic resin. Saidthermoplastic resin R is used in the shape of fiber or ribbon. Saidfibrous thermoplastic resin R is produced by such as a melt spinningmethod in which melted thermoplastic resin is extruded from the orificeof the extruder' die, a crushing method in which crushed waste articlesmade of said thermoplastic resin are split into fibrous shape with arefiner, and a splitting method in which waste articles made of saidthermoplastic resin are split into fibrous shape with the refiner andwaste articles of said thermoplastic resin are desirably used in saidmelt spinning method. Especially useful sources of said waste articlesof said thermoplastic resin are such as thermoplastic resin sheets foragricultural use, thermoplastic resin bags for packing, thermoplasticresin fiber goods, cabinets for home-use electrical appliances, carbumpers, bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate and like since saidthermoplastic resin articles produce a large quantity of waste articles.

[0043] Ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin is produced by such assplitting thermoplastic resin film into ribbon-shape with a shredder,and waste thermoplastic resin film or thermoplastic resin film made frommelted waste articles of thermoplastic resin by an extrusion method or acalender method is desirably used as said thermoplastic resin film. Amixture of two or more kinds of fibrous and/or ribbon-shapedthermoplastic resin R may be used or in a case where said thermoplasticresin is melted to spin or to form film, two or more kinds ofthermoplastic resin R may be mixed to melt.

[0044] In the present invention, fibrous or ribbon-shaped thermoplasticresin R is used as a binder for said woody material W and in this casetwo or more kinds of thermoplastic resins can be mixed and used so thattime and labor for sorting can be saved.

[0045] [Use of Waste Articles]

[0046] In the present invention, waste woody formed articles are cutand/or shaved, crushed or split to produce woody material W of saidwoody formed articles or woody cement boards. As described above, saidwoody formed articles of the present invention can be recycled in a highefficiency and indirectly said thermoplastic resin R can be recycled ina high efficiency. Moreover, since said woody formed articles of thepresent invention are used as building boards, material for furniture,mold panels of concrete and the like in large quantities, so that alarge quantity of thermoplastic resin can be consumed to produce saidwoody formed article.

[0047] [Third Components]

[0048] Besides said woody material W and said fibrous and/orribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin R, such as a water repellent agent,water proofing agent, antioxidant, coloring agent, agent giving a lowviscosity, agent to improve adhesion and the like may be added to saidwoody formed article and in a case where two or more kinds of saidthermoplastic resins R are mixed and melted and spun or formed intofilm, an agent to improve compatibility may be added.

[0049] [Production of Woody Formed Articles]

[0050] To produce said woody formed article of the present invention,first said woody material W and said fibrous and/or ribbon-shapedthermoplastic resin R are mixed together. Commonly, mixing ratio of saidwoody material W to said fibrous and/or ribbon-shaped thermoplasticresin R is settled to be in the range of between about 30:70 and 90:10in weight ratio.

[0051] In said mixing process since said fibrous and/or ribbon-shapedthermoplastic resin R is/are, intertwined with said woody material W,said thermoplastic resin R and said woody material W can be uniformlymixed without separating. Further, air is dragged into the mixture ofsaid thermoplastic resin R and said woody W material, and as a result,said mixture can contain plenty of air.

[0052] When said woody material W and said fibrous thermoplastic resin Rare mixed together, a method in which said thermoplastic resin R ismelted and extruded from the orifice of the die of the extruder (1)continuously or intermittently to be cooled by air as shown in FIG. 1 orif necessary, by being made to pass through the water cooler (2) asshown in FIG. 2, said thermoplastic resin R is added to said woodymaterial W filled in the mixer (3) such as an Irich mixer, and mixed bystirring; or a method in which said thermoplastic resin R is melted andextruded in fibrous shape from the orifice of the die of the extruder(1) and said woody material W is supplied to said melted thermoplasticresin R extruded in fibrous shape from one side just before a mat M isformed as shown in FIG. 3; or a method in which said woody material W issupplied from both sides to said melted thermoplastic resin R in fibrousshape extruded from the orifice (1B)of the die (1A) as shown in FIG. 4;and the like are desirably applied.

[0053] To extrude said melted thermoplastic resin R intermittently, amethod in which the orifice (1B) of the die (1A) is intermittently shutand opened with moving vanes arranged inside of said die (1A); or amethod in which numbers of dies (1A) are equipped in the extruder and anelectromagnetic valve is equipped in the head of each die (1A) and saidelectromagnetic valves are repeatedly shut and opened one by one; or amethod in which air is blown into the die head to cut said fibrousthermoplastic resin by air pressure; or a method in which the screw ofthe extruder is intermittently moved, are applied. When said meltedthermoplastic resin is extruded intermittently from the extruder, saidmelted thermoplastic resin R is extruded in short fiber.

[0054] In a case where said method in which said melted thermoplasticresin is extruded in fibrous shape from the extruder and said woodymaterial is added to it, is applied, said melted thermoplastic resin Ris intertwined with and adheres to said woody material W ununiformlysince said fibrous thermoplastic resin R is mixed with said woodymaterial W maintaining its melted state.

[0055] Further in a case where said woody material W and saidribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin R are mixed together, saidribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin R is desirably mixed in a meltedstate. In this case, said ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin R isintertwined with and adheres to said woody material W ununiformly.

[0056] In a case where said fibrous or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resinR intertwined with and adheres to said woody material W ununiformly asdescribed above, lots of air is drawn into a mat when said mat isformed, and after said mat is pressed and then even a small quantity ofair is extruded from said mat, the resulting molded mat M′ has manyvoids so that a light product is obtained.

[0057] To produce a formed article having board shape, for instance saidwoody material W is made to pass through the former (4) to provide saidwoody material W with the thickness to be roughly uniform with the combroll (5) called a raker and further said woody material W is scratchedand spread with the scratching roll (6) called a spreader roll as shownFIGS. 3 and 4. The extruder (1) to sprinkle said melted thermoplasticresin R is installed in the back of, and above said scratching roll (6)or said extruder (1) is installed between a pair of scratching rolls(6.6), and said scratched and spread woody material W is sprinkled andsupplied to said melted thermoplastic resin R from one side or bothsides to intertwine and then said raw material mixture Mx is strewed andpress formed on a compression roll press conveyer (7) or mold panels(10) being set on said conveyer (7) while said thermoplastic resin R issoftened. As shown in FIG. 5, a plural number of orifices may bearranged in one row or a plural number of rows in said die (1A).Further, said raw material mixture Mx in which said woody material W andsaid melted thermoplastic resin are mixed together as described above isstrewed on the conveyer (7A) for a while as shown in FIG. 7 and thethickness of said strewed raw material mixture Mx is smoothed to beroughly uniform with the comb roll (5A) of the former (4A) and furtherthe resulting mat of said woody material W having a roughly uniformthickness is again loosened and crushed with the scratching roll (6A) tostrew said loosened and crushed woody material W on said mold panel (10)or said compression roll press conveyer (7) connecting to a hot rollconveyer to form a mat. As described above, unevenness of the specificgravity of said raw material mixture Mx can be dissolved by forming fora while said mat through said former (4A).

[0058] In a case where the water content of said woody material W suchas wood flakes is high, since the water contained in said woody materialacts as a binder, for instance even if said thermoplastic resin(powdered finely) is used, said powdered thermoplastic resin R uniformlyadheres to said woody material W to interfere with the separationbetween said woody material W and said powdered thermoplastic resin Rwhen said raw material mixture Mx is scratched and spread.

[0059] Nevertheless in a case where said raw material mixture Mx ishot-pressed later on according to the present invention, there is aproblem that water vapor is generated from said woody material W byhot-pressing so that the water content of said wood flake should besettled to be low, and in the case of powdered or chipped thermoplasticresin, said woody material W and thermoplastic resin R are separatedwhen said mixture Mx is scratched and spread since said mixture Mxcontains a small quantity of water as a binder to form a mat, in whichsaid thermoplastic resin R is contained unevenly so that a high strengthof the resulting product after molding is hard to expect.

[0060] Accordingly, said thermoplastic resin R should be fibrous and/orribbon-shaped to be intertwined with said woody material, so that theproblem that said woody material W and said thermoplastic resin Rseparate when said mixture Mx is scratched and spread is solved.

[0061] To mold said mat M, said mat M may be hot-pressed with a pressmachine and the resulting molded mat M′ may be cooled by passing througha cold roll press, and in this case when said raw material mixture Mx isstrewed on a plural number of mold panels (10) which are arranged on themoving conveyer (7) to form mats as shown in FIG. 8, the productionefficiency may improved. In this case, since the resulting mats formedon said mold panels are soft, in order to prevent mat shape fromcrumbling and convey heat to the mat M easily during hot-pressing, thethickness of each mat is desirably compressed a little by compressingwith roll presses (13A, 14A) before hot-pressing. Further in this case,said hot-pressing is desirably applied by using hot roll presses (13B,14B) to improve the production efficiency since the continuousoperations become possible.

[0062] Further a method in which said raw material mixture Mx is streweddirectly on said conveyer (7) to form a mat as shown in FIG. 9 alsoimproves the production efficiency and the equipment for this method isinexpensive and economical. In this case, said molded mat M′ isdesirably cooled with cold rolls (13C, 14C).

[0063] Furthermore in the method in which said mats M are formed on saidmold panels (10) and hot-pressed with the pressing machine (24) as shownin FIG. 10, cooling process is desirably applied maintaining pressingcondition and when a plural number of units, each unit consisting ofsaid mat M and said mold panel, are piled in multi-stages to be pressedwith said compression machine (24), the production efficiency isimproved. In this case, commonly said units are piled in multi-stages onthe truck (25) as shown in FIG. 11, and carrying said truck (25) into aheating chamber with said piled units further improves the productionefficiency.

[0064] In a case where said mat M is formed on said mold panel (10),said mold panel (10) has commonly flat mold surface, but an unevenpattern may be formed on said mold surface or in a case where saidmolded mat M′ is cooled by passing through said cold roll presses (13C,14C), a board shaped woody formed article having an uneven pattern onone side or both sides can be produced, with embossing roll(s) (16A,16B) having uneven pattern and being arranged on one side or both sidesof said formed mat M′ after said cold roll presses (13C, 14C) as shownin FIG. 9.

[0065] Still further a curving board shaped woody formed article can beproduced by using said panel mold having an arch or wave shaped moldsurface or by making said formed mat M′ pass through more than threepairs of hot press rolls arranged along an arch or wave line.

[0066] In addition said mat having multi layers structure such as two orthree layers structure may be formed. In the case of three layersstructure, fine woody material such as a mixture of wood flakes and woodpowder is used in the surface layers and rough woody material such aswood flakes are used in the core layer and thus a board shaped woodyformed article which is light and has smooth surface layers having afine structure and a core layer having a rough structure and elasticitycan be provided.

[0067] To produce a woody formed article having a shape except boardshape, commonly said raw material mixture is filled in a case mold whoseinner surface is a mold surface having a desired shape and said mixturefilled in said case mold is pressed with an upper mold having a desiredshaped mold surface to be molded by heating.

[0068] Heating means such as electric heating, high-frequency heating,electromagnetic heating, vapor heating and the like are applied in anyforming method.

[0069] Said fibrous or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin R holds a largequantity of air and most of this remains in the latter after it has beenhot-pressed as shown in FIG. 12, and in a case where said fibrous orribbon shaped thermoplastic resin R is melted, resulting the formationof many voids S within the article, the resultant product is of a lightweight. Further, said formed article is strong, durable, and holds nailsfirmly, making it an ideal material for roof sheathings, and the like.

[0070] Additionally, a preferable method to produce said woody formedarticle of the present invention is a melt-blow method. In said method,hot wind and/or cold wind is/are blown obliquely and downwardly againstsaid thermoplastic resin R extruded from the orifice of the die fromboth sides to cut said thermoplastic resin R into short fiber or tostretch to thin into thin fiber. Said shortened or thinned fibrousthermoplastic resin R as described above does not cause the phaseseparation without influence of the mutual compatibility of eachthermoplastic resin R in a case where said thermoplastic resin R is amixture containing various waste thermoplastic articles withoutseparation.

[0071] Accordingly in this method, waste thermoplastic articles areeffectively recycled without separation.

[0072] To produce said woody formed article of the present invention byabove described method, first, said woody material W and saidthermoplastic resin R in a melted state are mixed together. To mix saidwoody material W and said fibrous thermoplastic resin R together, saidthermoplastic resin R is melted and extruded vertically from the orificeof the extruder's die under a high pressure, and said woody material Wis supplied to said continuous or intermittent fibrous thermoplasticresin R in a melted state from both sides or one side. Commonly mixingweight ratio of said woody material to said fibrous thermoplastic resinis settled to be in the range of between 20:80 and 90:10.

[0073] In the above described process, said fibrous thermoplastic resinR in a melted state is stretched and thinned by hot wind pressure orcold wind pressure and is intertwined with said woody material W byaccompanying flow (minus pressure range) generated by said hot windand/or said cold wind so that the resulting mixture becomes uniform. Ina case where cold wind is used, high wind pressure can be exerted topromote the stretching of said fibrous thermoplastic resin R in a meltedstate.

[0074] Adding to this, said fibrous thermoplastic resin R in a meltedstate means fibrous thermoplastic resin R which is in a melted state soas to be stretched and thinned by hot wind pressure and/or cold windpressure and it is not always necessary that said thermoplastic resin Ris wholly melted, and solid thermoplastic resin R may be partiallycontained in said thermoplastic resin R in a melted state. To put itconcretely, said chip or pellet shaped thermoplastic resin is suppliedinto the extruder (40) through the hopper (41) arranged in the root partof said extruder (40), and said thermoplastic resin R is heated andmelted in said extruder (40) and then extruded into the die (42) asshown in FIG. 15. After that said thermoplastic resin is extruded froman orifice (43) of said die (42) in fibrous shape as shown in FIG. 16. Apair of jets (44) are arranged in both sides of said orifice (43) ofsaid die (42) and hot wind supplied from a hot wind supplying path (45)to said jets (44) is blown obliquely and downwardly to said extrudedthermoplastic resin R to stretch and thin.

[0075] A plural number of said orifices (42) are desirably arranged in aline in said die (42) as shown in FIG. 17 and in this case said hot windjets (44) are slits arranged along both sides of said orifices line(43).

[0076] The caliber φ₁ of said orifice (43) of said die (42) is desirablyin the range from 0.2 to 2.0 mm and in the case of the orifice having acaliber φ₁ below 0.2 mm, said orifice is apt to be clogged with saidmelted thermoplastic resin R, especially impurities contained in meltedwaste thermoplastic resin, and in the case of the orifice having acaliber φ₁ over 2.0, said extruded thermoplastic resin R is not thinnedwell when stretched and uniform mixing said thermoplastic resin withsaid woody material becomes difficult.

[0077] As shown in FIG. 16, in the case of orifice having a caliber φ₁in the range from 0.2 to 2.0, the diameter φ₂ of said fibrousthermoplastic resin R extruded from said orifice (43) after stretchingand thinning becomes in the range from 0.05 to 0.8 mm and in this range,said orifice (43) is not clogged and said extruded fibrous thermoplasticresin R can be mixed uniformly with said woody material W.

[0078] To produce said woody formed article continuously, a pair ofwoody material supplying conveyers (46, 46) are arranged just under bothsides of a set of said orifices (43) and said woody material W on eachsupplying conveyer (46, 46) is strewed with strewing rolls (47, 47)arranged at the end part of each supplying conveyer (46, 46) and saidstrewed woody material is mixed with said fibrous thermoplastic resin Rextruded from said set of said orifices (43) downwardly and beingstretched and thinned by hot wind pressure.

[0079] In this case, said extruded thermoplastic resin R keeps itsmelted state by being heated by hot wind and said woody material W issucked toward said thermoplastic resin R by the accompanying flow (minuspressure range) formed in both sides of said thermoplastic resin R bysaid hot wind pressure and as a result, said woody material W,especially flake shaped woody material, wood flakes, spin around saidextruded thermoplastic resin R and said wood flakes contact with saidthermoplastic resin R being stretched and thinned, to be intertwinedwith said thermoplastic resin R in a melted state, so that saidthermoplastic resin R in a melted state and said woody material Waremixed uniformly and said stretching and thinning of said extrudedthermoplastic resin R are accelerated by the weight of said wood flakes.

[0080] As described above, after said melted thermoplastic resin R andsaid woody material W are mixed uniformly and then the resulting mixtureMx accumulates on mold panels (10) arranged on a conveyer (48) and saidmixture accumulating on said mold panels (10) is sent to a roll press ormold press (not shown in the Figures) to be molded into a board shape bypressing.

[0081] A plural number of orifices (43) may be arranged in plural rowssuch as two rows in said die (52) as shown FIG. 19. In this case saidthermoplastic resins R extruded from orifices (43) sets in both rows areoriented so as to approach mutually being stretched and thinned by hotwind pressure and said woody material W is supplied to saidthermoplastic rein R strings before said thermoplastic resin R stringsextruded from orifices (43) sets in both rows join together. After thatsaid two sets of said thermoplastic resin R strings are intertwined withsaid woody material W and then said two sets of said thermoplastic resinR strings join together and said melted thermoplastic resin R and saidwoody material W are mixed uniformly, and the resulting mixture Mx isaccumulated on mold panels (10) on said conveyer (48) to form mats. In acase were orifices (43) are arranged in two rows supplying quantity ofsaid melted thermoplastic resin R (resin quantity extruded fromorifices) becomes twice comparing with that in the case of one row sothat supplying quantity of said woody material W is settled to be twicecorresponding to supplying quantity of said melted thermoplastic resin Rand conveying speed of mold panels (10) is also settled to be twice.Accordingly, the output of said woody formed articles become twice.

[0082]FIG. 20 shows a case in which orifices (43) are arranged in threerows in said die (62). In this case the thermoplastic resin R stringsextruded from orifices (43) in the middle row are not much stretched andthinned by hot wind from said die, while the thermoplastic resin Rstrings extruded from orifices (43) in both sides are stretched andthinned and said woody material W is supplied to the stretched andthinned thermoplastic resin R strings. Said stretched and thinnedthermoplastic resin R strings, being intertwined with said woodymaterial W, join said thermoplastic resin R strings which has beenextruded from orifices (43) in the middle row and not much stretched andthinned, from both sides. Accordingly, the resulting mixture Mx ofthermoplastic resin R and said woody material W is accumulated on eachmold panel (10) on said conveyer (48) to form a mat having two layerstructure.

[0083] In this case, supplying quantity resin (quantity extruded fromorifices) of said melted thermoplastic resin R becomes three times sothat supplying quantity of said woody material W is settled to be threetimes and conveying speed of mold panels (10) is also settled to bethree times. Accordingly, the output of said woody formed articlesbecome three time.

[0084] Said thermoplastic resin R extruded from said orifice can bestretched and thinned by cold wind from said die instead of hot wind asshown in FIG. 21. In FIG. 21, a pair of slanting racks (46A, 46A) areconnected with the front-ends of a pair of woody material W supplyingconveyers (46, 46) on both sides respectively and a pair of cold windintroducing paths (46B, 46B) are arranged under said slanting racks(46A, 46A) respectively to blow cold wind to said extruded thermoplasticresin R from said cold wind introducing paths (46B, 46B). In this case,said extruded thermoplastic resin R to which cold wind contacts is notmuch stretched since said extruded thermoplastic resin R is cooled bysaid cold wind, but said orifice of said die is heated and said extrudedthermoplastic resin R is still in its melted state so that thestretching and thinning of said extruded thermoplastic resin areaccelerated between said orifice and said cold wind. Further in the caseof cold wind, heat energy to prepare hot wind is not necessary so that abig quantity of wind can be provided and the process can be doneeconomically and effectively. Furthermore, said stretching and thinningof said thermoplastic resin R can be controlled by blowing only coldwind from said die, stopping hot wind, since much bigger quantity ofcold wind can be provided from said die comparing with hot wind and thecontrol of said stretching and thinning can be easily performed.

[0085] Still further, in a case where a panel type jet blowing cold windis employed, said panel type jet can be used as a guide to supply saidwoody material W, so that said extruded thermoplastic resin R can beintertwined more effectively with said woody material W. In addition, apair of hot wind supplying paths (45A, 45A) may be arranged between hotwind from said die (42) and cold wind from underside of said slantingracks (46A, 46A) and hot wind may be blown to said thermoplastic resin Rfrom said hot wind supplying paths (45A, 45A) to stretch and fine saidthermoplastic resin R. In this case, since said extruded thermoplasticresin is kept hot just before cold wind contacts with it, it can bestretched and thinned more thinly.

[0086] Additionally in a case where three dies (42A, 42B, 42C) arearranged stepwise and said die (42) arranged in middle and higherposition and two dies (42B, 42C) arranged in both sides and lowerpositions and a pair of cold wind introducing paths (46B, 46B) arearranged in the under and outer positions of said lower dies (42B, 42C)as shown in FIG. 23, accumulating quantity of said mixture of saidthermoplastic resin R and said woody material W can be increased and amat having three layers can be formed.

[0087] In said producing process of said woody formed article, to keep agood dispersing state of said thermoplastic resin R, said woody materialW is desirably supplied by heating. In a case where said woody materialW is heated, said melted thermoplastic resin R can be intertwined withand adhere to said woody material W strongly to prevent separationbetween said woody material W and said thermoplastic resin R.

[0088] To heat said woody material W as described above, net conveyersare used as supplying conveyers (46, 46) and said woody material W onsaid supplying conveyers (46, 46) is heated by hot wind being circulatedand heated, during circulation (as indicated by the arrows) with hot aircirculation apparatuses (49, 49) as shown FIG. 24. In this system, saidwoody material W is effectively heated and dried. Further said system isdesirably put in a room (50) to keep warm.

[0089] As described above, in a case where said mixture Mx of saidmelted thermoplastic resin R and said woody material W accumulating oneach mold panel (10) in mat shape is press-molded just after saidmixture Mx accumulates on each mold panel, the heat still remains insaid mixture Mx so that it is not necessary to heat said mixture Mxagain, improving productivity and heat efficiency. In a case where saidmixture Mx is press-molded after time has passed since said mixture Mxhas accumulated on the mold panel, said mixture Mx is press-molded byheating but since said thermoplastic resin has been melted once, theheat efficiency is much higher than that of the mixture which isprepared by cold blend.

[0090] Further in a case where a plural number of said woody materialsupplying conveyers (46) and a plural number of dies (42) are arrangedin multi-stages as shown in FIG. 25, productivity can be much improved.

[0091] Furthermore in a case where said woody material supplyingconveyers (46, 46) are set up so as to oscillate right and left as shownin FIG. 26 or said woody material supplying conveyers (46, 46) and saiddie (42) are set up so as to move reciprocally right and left alongwidth direction an uniform mat M can be formed on each mold panel (10)on a conveyer (48) as shown in FIG. 27. A plural number of said woodymaterial supplying conveyers which can oscillate or a plural number ofsaid woody material supplying conveyers which can move reciprocallyalong width direction and a plural number of dies may be arranged inmulti-stages as shown in FIG. 25.

[0092] Still further said woody material supplying conveyers (46, 46)and said conveyer (48) may be arranged so as to cross at right anglesand said die (42) may arranged laterally, and said supplying conveyers(46, 46) and said die (42) may be set up so as to move reciprocallyalong width direction as shown in FIG. 28. In this system, a uniform matM also can be formed on each mold panel (10) on said conveyer (48).

[0093] In addition, a plural number of said supplying conveyers and diesmay be arranged in multi-stages along lateral line.

[0094] As described above, in a case where said mat M accumulating oneach mold panel (10) still maintains its heated state just after saidmat is formed on each mold panel (10), said mat is molded with a coldcompression machine, cold press machine, cold milling roll machine andthe like and in a case where said mat M is cooled after time has passedsince said mat M has been formed on each mold panel (10), said mat ismolded with a hot press machine, hot roll press machine or the like andthe resulting formed mat M′ is cooled and fixed with a cold pressmachine, cold roll press machine, or the like.

[0095] Additionally, the structures shown in FIG. 17, FIG. 19, and FIGS.24 to 28 are of course applied to systems shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 inwhich hot wind and/or cold wind is(are) not blown from both sides ofsaid orifice.

EXAMPLE 1

[0096] Waste polypropylene sheets were heated and melted and extruded infibrous shape from said extruder (1) shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and saidmelted fibrous polypropylene was added to wood flakes W (size 4 to 8mm×20 to 25 mm×0.5 to 1 mm) in a mixer (3) which was heated and keptwarm, and mixed for 1 minute by stirring. Mixing ratio of said resin tosaid wood flakes was said fibrous thermoplastic resin R 50% by weight,said wood flakes W 50% by weight. In said raw material mixture A, sincesaid fibrous polypropylene (thermoplastic resin R) was added and mixedin said wood flakes W, maintaining its heated and softened state, saidfibrous polypropylene (thermoplastic resin R) was melted beingintertwined with said wood flakes ununiformly as shown in FIG. 6.

[0097] Further said fibrous thermoplastic resin R was intertwined witheach other between said wood flakes.

[0098] Said raw material mixture Mx was made to pass through the former(4) and its thickness was made even with the comb roll (5) and saidmixture Mx was again scratched and spread with the scratching roll (6)as shown in FIG. 3 to be supplied directly on the conveyer part (7) ofthe front compression roll press part (13A, 14A) of a pair of rollpresses (13, 14) arranged up and down shown in FIG. 9, and the thicknessof said mixture Mx was compressed to arrange the shape with saidcompressing roll press part (13A, 14A) and then the resulting mat M ofsaid mixture Mx was press-molded by heating at a temperature in therange of between 180 and 220° C. (press pressure 6 MPa) with the rollpress part (13B, 14B) of said roll presses (13, 14) heated by hot windin the heating chamber (15). The resulting formed mat M′ was cooled withthe rear cold roll press part (13C, 14C) of said roll presses (13, 14)arranging the shape of said mat (gap between rolls 12.0 mm, pressingpressure 0.5 MPa). After cooling, both surfaces of said formed mat M′were embossed with the pair of embossing rolls (16A, 16B) arranged upand down to transfer said formed and embossed mat M′ to a conveyer (18)and said mat M′ was cut with the cutter (17) in a designated size toprepare a board shaped test piece 1.

[0099] In said board shaped test piece 1, said wood flakes W adheremutually by said fibrous, melted thermoplastic resin R as shown in FIG.12 and said fibrous thermoplastic resin R is intertwined with andadheres to said wood flakes W ununiformly and said fibrous thermoplasticresin R is intertwined mutually between said wood flakes so that thesurface of each wood flake is covered and sealed with said thermoplasticresin R but a lot of voids S remain in the resulting board afterpress-molding and a light woody formed article can be provided.

EXAMPLE 2

[0100] Waste polyethylene sheets were cut into ribbon-shape with ashredder.

[0101] A raw material mixture Mx of 50% by weight of said ribbon-shapepolyethylene (thermoplastic resin R), 25% by weight of wood flake W, and25% by weight of wood powder (pass through a mesh having opening whosediameter is 1 mm) was prepared by stirring and mixing in Irich mixer andsaid mixture Mx was strewed on mold panels (10) moving on a rollconveyer (7) by using the former (4) in the same manner as in EXAMPLE 1as shown in FIG. 8 to form a mat M on each mold panel (10). Thethickness of said mat M is compressed a little with the compressing rollpress part (13A, 14A) to arrange its shape and then press molded withhot roll presses (13A, 14A) by heating at a temperature in the rangefrom 120 to 170° C. (6 MPa), Said formed mat M′ was cooled with the coldroll press part (13C, 14C) (5 MPa, gap between rolls 12.0 mm) to producea board shaped test piece 2.

EXAMPLE 3

[0102] Waste non-woven fabric made of polyester fiber was roughlycrushed with an uniaxial shredder and further splitted with a doubledisk refiner to produce reclaimed fiber. Using said reclaimed fiber, amixture B having a composition as described below was prepared.Reclaimed fiber 50% by weight Wood flakes (EXAMPLE1) 25% by weight Woodpowder (EXAMPLE2) 25% by weight

[0103] Said mixture B was strewed on each mold panel (10) to form a matM, as shown in FIG. 8 and said mat M was introduced into the hot rollpresses (13B, 14B) heated at a temperature in the range of between 250and 280° C. with said mold panel (10), and compressed to reducegradually the thickness of said mat M. In this case, maximum pressingpressure is 6 MPa and gap of rolls is 12.0 mm. As described above aboard shaped test piece 3 was prepared.

EXAMPLE 4

[0104] Waste article made of polypropylene was crushed and melted andextruded from the extruder (1) shown in FIG. 2 in fiber shape and whilesaid melted polypropylene maintains its heated state, said wood flakes Win the same manner as in EXAMPLE 1 was scratched and spread with thescratching roll (6) of the former (4) and strewed on the roll conveyer(7) being intertwined with said fibrous polypropylene. The resultingmixture was press-molded by heating at a temperature in the range ofbetween 180 and 220° C., and pressing pressure 6 MPa with hot rollpresses (13B, 14B) and then the resulting formed mat M′ was cooled withthe cold roll presses (13C, 14C) (pressing pressure 0.5 MPa, gap ofrolls 12.0 mm) to prepare a board shaped test piece 4.

EXAMPLE 5

[0105] Said mixture A prepared in EXAMPLE 1 was strewed on the moldpanel (10) to form a mat M and the a plural number of units consistingof the mold panel (10) and said mat M were piled putting spacers(thickness 12 mm) between said units in multistage (10 to 15 stages) asshown in FIG. 10 and then said units piled in multistage were introducedinto the compression machine (24) to be pressed between the lower baseplate (24A) and the upper base plate (24B), and the fixing arm (24C) ofsaid upper base plate (24B) was clamped to the fixing flange (24D) ofsaid lower base plate (24A) with the clamping rod (24E). In this case,pressing pressure is settled to be 6 MPa.

[0106] As described above, a plural number of said mats M piled werepressed by the compression machine (24) and put on the truck (25) to beintroduced into the heating chamber to be heated at a temperature in therange of between 180 and 250° C. for about 60 to 90 minutes. After beingheated, said mats were extruded from said heating chamber with the truck(25) and kept at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours maintaining itspressed state to be cooled to 100° C. After cooling, the pressure wasreleased to take out the resulting formed mats M′ as a board shaped testpiece 5.

EXAMPLE 6

[0107] Said mixture A prepared in EXAMPLE 1 was strewed on the moldpanel (10) to form a mat M and the other mold panel (10) was put on saidmat M, and a plural number of units consisting of a pair of said moldpanels (10) and said mat were inserted in the multistage hot-pressingmachine (30) as shown in FIG. 13 and press-molded by heating at atemperature in the range of between 180 and 250° C., pressure 6 MPa.After press molding, the pressure was released and the resulting formedmats M′ with mold panels (10) were inserted into the cold press (31) asshown in FIG. 14 to be cooled arranging the shape under pressure 0.5 MPato prepare a board shaped test piece 6.

EXAMPLE 7

[0108] Using raw materials described in EXAMPLE 2, the mixtures havingcompositions as described below were prepared. Mixture used for surfacelayers Resin 50% by weight Wood flakes 25% by weight Mixture used forcore layers Resin 30% by weight Wood flakes 70% by weight

[0109] Said mixture used for surface layers was strewed on the moldpanel (10) on the moving roll conveyer and said mixture used for corelayer was strewed on said strewed mixture used for surface layers andfurther said mixture used for surface layers was strewed on said strewedmixture for core layer to form a mat M having three layers structure.Said mat M was hot-pressed in the range from 120 to 170° C. in the samemanner as in EXAMPLE 2 and cooled to prepare a board shaped test piece 7having three layer structure.

[0110] Physical properties of said test pieces 1 to 7 were shown intable 1. TABLE 1 breaking bending holding water thickness swelling ratestrength × strength flexibility strength absorption by water absorbingboard shaped 10³N N/mm² mm specific N 24 hr-% 24 hr-% test piece *1 *1*1 gravity *2 *3 *3 EXAMPLES 1 0.96 26.00 3.8 0.63 700 16 3.1 2 0.9827.00 3.5 0.65 720 19 3.2 3 1.00 30.00 2.9 0.68 750 18 3.2 4 0.95 25.004.3 0.62 650 16 3.1 5 0.97 26.00 4.0 0.63 710 18 3.1 6 0.95 25.00 3.60.64 700 17 3.2 7 1.30 34.00 3.4 0.71 800 18 3.1

EXAMPLE 8

[0111] In the apparatus shown in FIG. 19, 500 orifices (43) werearranged in one line, the caliber φ₁, of each orifice being 1.5 mm, andthe interval between said orifices was 5 mm and a pair of said orificesline were arranged in said die (52), interval between said orificeslines being 50 mm.

[0112] Waste articles made of polypropylene were crushed and heated andmelted in the extruder to supply to said die (52) and said meltedpolypropylene R was extruded from said orifices (43) in a fibrous state.Said melted, extruded polypropylene R was stretched and thinned byblowing hot wind heated at 200° C. After said stretching and thinning,the diameter of the resulting fibrous polypropylene was about 0.5.

[0113] As woody material W, wood flakes which were prepared by scrappingof wood thinned out (size; width 4 to 8 mm, length 20 to 25 mm,thickness 0.5 to 1 mm) were used. Said woody material W was put on apair of supplying conveyers (46, 46) and supplied to said melted,extruded polypropylene R from both sides with strewing rolls (47) andsaid melted, extruded fibrous polypropylene R was intertwined with saidwood flakes W, and said melted, extruded polypropylene and said woodflakes were uniformly mixed and accumulated on the mold panel (10) onthe conveyer (48) to form a mat. Mixing weight ratio of said wood flakesto said polypropylene was settled to be 6:4. The resulting mixture Mxaccumulating on said mold panel was molded into board shape with themilling roll press and then cooled with the cold roll press to produce awoody article. Size of said woody formed article sample was width 100cm, length 180 cm, thickness 12 mm and bending strength of said samplewas 340 kgf/cm², and specific gravity in completely drying state was0.71.

EXAMPLE 9

[0114] In the apparatus shown in FIG. 22, the same die, the same kind ofthermoplastic resin R, and the same kind of woody material W as used inEXAMPLE 8 were used and hot wind at 200° C. was blown against melted,extruded thermoplastic resin R in two stages from the hot wind supplyingpaths (45, 45A) and then cold wind at 20° C. from the cold wind applyingpath (46B) was blown against said thermoplastic resin R to stretch andthin. In this case, the diameter of the nozzle was 1.5 mm and thediameter of fibrous thermoplastic resin R after stretching was about 0.1mm.

[0115] After said thermoplastic resin R and said woody material W weremixed together, said mixture was hot-pressed at 200° C. with thehot-press machine (pressing pressure 6.0 MPa) and then, the resultingformed mixture was arranged in shape with the cold press (pressingpressure 0.6 MPa, gap of rolls 12 mm) to produce a woody formed article(width 100 mm,. length 180 mm, thickness 12 mm). Bending strength ofsaid woody formed article was 350 kg/cm², and specific gravity incompletely drying state was 0.71.

EXAMPLE 10

[0116] In the apparatus shown in FIG. 21, the same die, the same kind ofthermoplastic resin R, and the same kind of woody material W as used inEXAMPLE 8 were used, and only cold wind at 20° C. was blown againstmelted, extruded thermoplastic resin R from the cold wind applying path(46B), stopping hot wind from the hot wind applying path (45) of thedie, thus, said melted, extruded thermoplastic resin R was stretched andthinned. In this case the diameter of the nozzle was 1.5 mm, and thediameter of fibrous thermoplastic resin after stretching was 0.6 mm.

[0117] After said thermoplastic resin R and woody material W were mixedtogether, said mixture was hot-pressed at 200° C. with the hot-pressmachine (pressing pressure 6.0 MPa) and then, the resulting formedmixture was arranged in shape with the cold press (pressing pressure(0.6 MPa) to produce a woody formed article. Bending strength of saidwoody formed article was 360 kg/cm², and specific gravity in completelydrying state was 0.78.

[0118] As a comparison, crushed waste article made of polypropylene(powder) and wood flake W were mixed and said mixture was hot-pressed toproduce a woody formed article. Bending strength of said woody formedarticle was 160 kgf/cm², lower than bending strength of woody formedarticles produced in EXAMPLES. The reason why bending strength in thecomparison was lower than those in EXAMPLES seems that crushed wastearticles (powder) disperse incompletely in the mixture and there aresome parts in which resin component does not exist between woodymaterials.

Possibility of Industrial Use

[0119] Since fibrous or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin which iseasily intertwined with woody material is used as a binder of woodymaterial in the present invention, said woody material and fibrous orribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin are uniformly mixed together withoutseparation and air can be put in during mixing.

[0120] Further said fibrous or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin isintertwined with said woody material and melted to adhere to said woodymaterial so that a high formed and light article having a high strength,a lot of voids existing in said formed article can be provided.

[0121] Furthermore in a case where woody material is supplied to saidheated and melted fibrous thermoplastic resin, said thermoplastic resinuniformly disperses in woody material to produce a woody formed articlehaving a high strength.

[0122] In particular, in a case where said heated and melted fibrousthermoplastic resin is stretched and thinned by hot wind pressure and/orcold wind pressure, said woody material and said thermoplastic resin aremore uniformly mixed so that a woody formed articles having higherstrength can be provided.

[0123] Said woody formed article of the present invention is useful asbuilding boards and material for furniture such as wall boards, floorboards, roof sheathings, seat panels of a chair, table panels and thelike, and car interiors such as door trim, rear parcels and the like.

1. A woody formed article produced by molding a raw material mixture prepared by mixing woody material, and fibrous and/or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin.
 2. A woody formed article in accordance with claim 1, wherein said fibrous and/or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin is mixed with said woody material in heated and melted state.
 3. A woody formed article in accordance with claim 1, wherein said fibrous and/or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin is(are) made of waste articles of said thermoplastic resin.
 4. A woody formed article in accordance with claims 1 to 3, said woody material is wood flakes.
 5. A method for producing a woody formed article comprising press-molding a mat of raw material mixture containing woody material and fibrous and/or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin.
 6. A method for producing a woody formed article comprising strewing raw material mixture containing woody material and fibrous and/or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin to form a mat on conveyer moving to a designated direction or on a mold panel set on said conveyer and press-molding said mat.
 7. A method for producing a woody formed article in accordance with claims 5 and 6, wherein uneven pattern formed on one side or both sides of said mat by embossing after said press-molding.
 8. A method for producing woody formed article in accordance with claims 5 to 7, wherein said raw material mixture is prepared by mixing said woody material and said thermoplastic resin in heated and melted state.
 9. A method for producing a woody formed article in accordance with claim 8, wherein said heated and melted thermoplastic resin is extruded from an orifice of an extruder's die in fibrous shape and said extruded, fibrous thermoplastic resin extruded from said orifice is mixed with said woody material in melted state.
 10. A method for producing woody formed article in accordance with claim 9, wherein said woody material is continuously supplied to and mixed in said melted, extruded thermoplastic resin from one side or both sides.
 11. A method for producing woody formed article in accordance with claims 9 and 10, wherein said melted thermoplastic resin is extruded from said orifice of said extruder's die and stretched and thinned by hot wind and/or cold wind pressure and said stretched and thinned fibrous thermoplastic resin is mixed with said woody material in melted state.
 12. A method for producing woody formed article in accordance with claims 8 to 11, wherein the plural number of orifices of said extruder's die are arranged in one row or the plural number of rows.
 13. A method for producing woody formed article in accordance with claims 8 to 12, wherein the plural number of dies are arranged in the plural number of stage.
 14. A method for producing woody formed article in accordance with claims 8 to 13, wherein the caliber of said orifice is in the range of between 0.2 and 2.0 mm.
 15. A method for producing woody formed article in accordance with claims 5 to 14, wherein said fibrous or ribbon-shaped thermoplastic resin is made of waste articles of said thermoplastic resin.
 16. A method for producing woody formed article in accordance with claims 5 to 15, wherein said woody material is wood flakes. 